May 28, 2011

I bought all seven volumes of the Shinya Shokudo manga book, which contains 99 episodes in total.
深夜食堂の漫画本を７冊全部買いました。全部で99話あります。

The good news (at least for me) is that in contrast to the sad ending of episode 7 of the TV drama version, in the original manga version, the entertainer and the newspaper delivery guy got back together again after the entertainer divorced the president of an IT company one year later.
（少なくとも私にとって）いいニュースは、テレビドラマの７話の悲しい最後とは対照的に、オリジナルの漫画では、タレントと新聞配達の男は、タレントが一年後にIT会社の社長と離婚してから、よりを戻したことです。

In episode 1 of the TV drama version, Kosuzu-san has an unrequited love for the yakuza, but in the manga version, things are a little different. Sometimes the yakuza ordered weenies and waited for Kosuzu-san to come.
テレビドラマの第一話では、小寿々さんがヤクザに片思いしていましたが、漫画では、ちょっと違います。ときには、ヤクザがウインナーを注文して、小寿々さんが来るのを待っていました。

The yakuza's memories of red weenies date back to his high school days, when he played baseball. The manager of his baseball club gave him a bento box full of red weenies.
ヤクザの赤いウインナーの思い出は、野球をやっていた高校生時代に遡ります。野球部のマネージャーが彼に赤いウインナーがいっぱい入ったお弁当箱を渡しました。

Unlike in episode 6 of the TV drama version, in the manga version, Master asks the boxer, "Why don't I treat you to katsudon?", and the boxer replies, "Could you make it oyakodon?"
テレビドラマの第六話とは異なり、漫画では、マスターがボクサーに「カツ丼おごらせてくれよ。」と言い、ボクサーは「親子丼にしてもらえないかな。」と答えます。

Kosuzu-san's memories of tamago-yaki date back to his young days, when Kou-chan, an employee of the gay bar where he worked, used to make tamago-yaki for him.
小寿々さんの卵焼きの思い出は、働いていたゲイバーの従業員、コウちゃんが卵焼きを作ってくれた若い頃まで遡ります。

Kou-chan is already dead, but his grand-son, who looks very much like him, comes to see him and makes him happy.
こうちゃんはもう死んでいますが、こうちゃんによく似た孫が小寿々に会いに来てくれ、小寿々は幸せです。

May 22, 2011

Finally, as I said before, making decent tempura is difficult even for native Japanese. There are two decisive factors, the temperature of the oil and the thickness of the batter.

In general, the oil temperature should be 160-170C for vegetables and 180C for fish and seafood. Obviously, thin batter results in thin coating, while thick batter results in thick coating. Ingredients that need to be deep-fried for a long time require thick batter. Sweet potato is a typical example.

Notes on kakiage: It may be difficult to make light, non-greasy kakiage. There are several techniques for making kakiage. A common one is to first dust the ingredients in a bowl, then pour some batter, mix, scoop some of the ingredients, using a ladle or a large spoon (be sure to return any excess batter to the bowl), and put in the tempura pot to deep-fry, as I mentioned here (post #43). Alternatively, omit the dusting step and simply add some batter.
Another is to add some flour to ingredients in a bowl, add enough cold water, mix, and scoop some of the ingredients, and put in the pot to deep-fry.

Tempura Kondo: Some of those who have viewed the photos of tempura served at the tempura restaurant, Tempura Kondo, may have wondered what the semi-cylindrical object was (in the top left photo as of May 21). I mean this one. It is sweet potato tempura about 7 cm in height, and it is regarded as one of Kondo's best pieces. According to this site (Japanese only), it is made as follows:
1. Cut sweet potato into rounds about 7 cm in height.
2. Coat with batter, put in a pot of 180C oil, and deep-fry while turning over frequently.
3. When the surface is done, transfer to a pot of 170C, and deep-fry for 30 min.
4. Take out from the pot and wrap in paper towel for 5 to 7 min.
5. Cut (in half? lengthwise) and serve.

So, how did Kondo come up with this unusual sweet potato tempura?

He used to make sweet potato tempura in a usual way, using thin rounds of sweet potato, but he felt it left something to be desired. He thought it was off balance, and didn't find it tasty at all.

Around dawn in late fall, Kondo was having hot yaki imo (roasted sweet potato) he had bought at a stall. He thought that yaki imo bought out the flavor of sweet potato. "Why can't I do the same by tempura-ing?"
After much trial and error, Kondo's original sweet potato tempura was completed in the fall of the second year after he opened the restaurant.

Other interesting pieces of tempura at Tempura Kondo includeCarrot tempura, made with very thin strips of carrot andGreen pepper tempura, which is a whole green pepper with seeds in it that is battered and deep-fried (I guess several holes are made to prevent explosion).

There is so much to talk about tempura, but I'd like to go on to the next topic, Shinya Shokudo!

Added to add:
This page (Japanese only) explains how to make kakiage, with photos, using the tempura mix for business use that I mentioned in Summary of Tempura Making 2.

Directions:
1. Put 200 g (= 160 + 30 + 10) vegetables and 100 g tempura mix in a bowl and mix well.
2. Add 100 g water.
3. Mix well until no longer floury.
4. Place some ingredients in a ladle, unraveling any entangled ingredients fluffily(?).
5. Sink the ladle slowly into the oil.
6. When the ingredients are done to some degree, remove them from the ladle. Flip in 2 min., and deep-fry for another 1 min. Drain well.

May 21, 2011

Note: This post was initially published between Tempura Making 1 and Tempura Making 3, but was published as a new post here after I corrected Blogger-created stupid label to the initial one. Sorry for the inconvenience.
注： この投稿は最初、Tempura Making 1とTempura Make 3の間に発行したのですが、Bloggerが作成した変なラベルを最初のラベルに修正したら、新たな投稿として、ここに発行されてしまいました。ご了承下さい。

I forgot to mention that I had made all the necessary preparations for the tempura ingredients before pouring oil into the pot.
言い忘れましたが、鍋に油を注ぐ前に、天ぷらの具材の下準備をすべてしました。

I then turned on the stove, and started to make tempura batter.
次にコンロの火をつけて、天ぷらの衣を作り始めました。

The standard tempura batter is a 1:1 mixture of (beaten egg + cold water) and wheat flour, but for this particular tempura making session, I decided to make batter with beaten egg yolk + cold water and wheat flour. By cold water, I mean tap water at about 21C. Cold water of about 15C is preferable but not essential, and you need not use iced water, in my opinion. For best results, the flour must be low-gluten flour like cake flour (kakurikiko in Japan). All-purpose flour (churikiko in Japan) should be OK (I have made tempura with churikiko with success several times), but don't use bread flour (kyorikiko in Japan).
標準的な天ぷらの衣とは、（溶き卵＋冷水）と小麦粉を1:1で混ぜたものですが、今回の天ぷら作りでは、（溶いた黄身＋冷水）と小麦粉で衣を作ることにしました。冷水と私が言うのは、21度程度の水道水です。15度程度の冷水のほうがいいですが、必須ではありません。また、私の意見ですが、氷水を使う必要もありません。良い結果を出すには、cake flourなどのグルテンの少ない小麦粉（日本では薄力粉）を使ってください。all-purpose flour（日本では中力粉でも大丈夫ですが（何回か中力粉で天ぷらを作りましたが、うまく行きました）、bread flour（日本では強力粉）は使わないで下さい。

Beaten egg yolk + Cold water, mixed thoroughly, the total amount of which should be 200 ml to combine with 200 ml flour to make batter):
溶いた卵の黄身と冷水を良く混ぜたところ。合計200 mlになること（200 mlの小麦粉と合わせて衣を作るには）：

If you try tempura making for the first time, I recommend measuring the flour. 200 ml or 110 g flour. And, about 175 ml cold water to make a yolk solution of 200 ml.
天ぷら作りを初めて試すなら、小麦粉の量を測ることを薦めます。小麦粉200 mlまたは100 g。それから、200 mlの冷水を黄身の溶液を作るために約175 mlの冷水。

Sift flour and add it to the yolk solution (not vice versa).
小麦粉をふるって、黄身の溶液に入れます（逆ではなく）。

Mix thoroughly (but don't overmix). Some people may tell you that the batter should be lumpy, but it need not necessarily be lumpy, in my opinion.
良く混ぜます（でも混ぜ過ぎない）。ダマが残っていなければいけないと言う人がいるかも知れませんが、私としては、必ずしもそうである必要はないと思います。

I usually start making tempura with vegetables, like many others, but I started with prawn this time, so that my hungry son could start having tempura soon. I heated the oil to 180C (my stove is equipped with a temperature control), and deep-fried prawn for about 1.5 min.
普段は、他の人と同様、天ぷらは野菜から作り始めるのですが、お腹をすかせた息子が早く天ぷらを食べれるよう、今回はエビから始めました。油を180度に加熱し（コンロには温度調節がついています）、エビを約1.5分、揚げました。

Not good examples! The prawn ended up curling, although I made several cuts on the belly side of each prawn and bent each prawn in the opposite direction.
良くない例です。エビの腹側に切り込みを幾つか入れ、反対方向に曲げたのですが、エビは丸まってしまいました。

May 20, 2011

Batter:
I like the soft and fluffy texture of tempura made with batter of water, whole egg (or yolk only), and wheat flour, because such tempura is what I grew up with. For those who prefer hard and crunchy tempura, the type of tempura you can buy at any supermarket in Japan, which remains hard and crunchy even after it has cooled, premade tempura mix is recommended.

You can see the difference between a piece of prawn tempura made with this mix (left) and another made with flour + egg (right) here.

This photo is from this article. 11th and subsequent photos are related to tempura.

Alternatively, you can add up to 20-30% starch, such as katakuriko (potato starch), to get a similar effect.

Some people recommend adding some baking powder to the batter (1 tsp per 200 ml or 110 g flour) to make crispy tempura. Others recommend using three parts water and one part carbonated water (or beer!) instead water to make crispy tempura. Other ingredients some people add to make crispy tempura include shochu (Japanese distilled spirit), sake, vinegar, and even mayonnaise. I can't comment on them because I have never tried any of them.

Dusting:

This site (Japanese only), created by Tempura Okamoto, a tempura restaurant located in Tachikawa, Tokyo, is a wealth of information about tempura.

For example, this page (Japanese only) lists various vegetables, whether to deep-fry them for a long time, how thick the batter should be, and whether to dust them (where to dust, cut ends and peeled portions only or entirely). If you have any questions about particular vegetables, post a question here, as a comment.

May 14, 2011

The following is a summary of tempura making, with additional information.
天ぷら作りのまとめと、追加情報です。

Here is the equipment that I use to make tempura:
私が天ぷらを作るときに使う道具です。

I usually use the tempura pot and two or three pairs of cooking chopsticks only. I usually don't use the shifter, the pair of long, large chopsticks, the measuring cup, and the net for scooping tenkasu.
普段は天ぷら鍋と菜箸を２、３本使うだけです。普段は、ふるい、長くて大きな箸、計量カップ、天カスをすくう網は使いません。

A beginner should accurately measure the flour and water to tell what the standard tempura batter should be. Everyone is a beginner at first.
初心者は小麦粉と水を正確に測って、標準的な天ぷらの衣とはどんなものかを知るべきです。誰でも最初は初心者です。

Canola oil and hakurikiko (cake flour) that I used:
使ったキャノーラ油と薄力粉：

Use vegetable oil of your choice. Like I said before, I don't like to use sesame oil to make tempura.
好きな植物油を使って下さい。前に言ったように、私は天ぷらを作る時はごま油を使うのは好きではありません。

I guess that I need to clarify that there is Kanto-style tempura and Kansai-style tempura. The former is characterized by:
Use of sesame oil
Use of eggs in batter
More emphasis on fish and seafood than vegetables
Some tempura ya (restaurants specializing in tempura) use sesame oil only, while others combine sesame oil with other vegetable oil at a ratio of, say, 1:5. Use of sesame oil and egg in batter results in golden brown tempura. More emphasis on fish and seafood stems from the fact that in the Edo period, fish and seafood caught in Edo Bay (present Tokyo Bay) were often used for tempura, and sesame oil was used to mask the fishy flavor.
Kansai-style tempura is characterized by:
Use of vegetable oil other than sesame oil
Use of egg-less batter
More emphasis on vegetables than fish and seafood
I found one good site describing Kansai-style tempura: Fujiyoshi
In Episode 6 of Kuitan, Kuitan's client complains about Kanto-style tempura being so dark.Kuitan episode 6 (at around 3:05 in 2/4 of episode 6
In her thread, egullet member prasantrin talks about the tempura meal she had in Tokyo. I posted a photo of Kansai-style tempura to that thread (post #400).
Another difference is that in Kanto, tempura is often eaten with tentsuyu (dipping sauce for tempura), while in Kansai, tempura is often eaten without tentsuyu or with salt or other condiment.
関東風の天ぷらと関西風の天ぷらがあることをはっきりさせる必要があると思います。前者の特徴は：
ごま油を使う
衣に卵を使う
野菜よりも魚介類を重視
ごま油しか使わない天ぷら屋もあり、ごま油を他の植物油と、例えば１：５の割合で混ぜる天ぷら屋もあります。ごま油を使い、衣に卵を使うので、天ぷらは、きつね色になります。魚介類を重視するのは、江戸時代、江戸湾（現在の東京湾）で捕れた魚介類をよく天ぷらにしていたからで、魚臭さを消すため、ごま油が使われました。
関西風天ぷらの特徴は：
ごま油以外の植物油を使う
卵の入ってない衣を使う
魚介類より野菜を重視
関西風の天ぷらを説明する、いいサイトがありました：Fujiyoshi
喰いタンの第六話で、喰いタンの依頼者が関東風の天ぷらは色が濃いと文句をいいます（第六話の2/4の3:05頃）。Kuitan episode 6
このスレッドで、egulletのメンバーのprasantrinさんが東京で食べた天ぷらについて語っています。私は関西風の天ぷらの写真を載せました(post #400)。
また、関東では、天ぷらは天つゆで食べることが多いですが、関西では天つゆなしで、または塩など他の調味料で食べることが多いです。

I'd also like to talk about the difference between tempura ya style tempura and soba ya (buckwheat noodle restaurant) style tempura.
The former is characterized by tempura with thin coating that is meant to be eaten immediately after made. The latter is characterized by tempura with thick coating that is often made in advance. Some soba ya style tempura, particularly prawn tempura (ebi ten), gets more coating while being fried to produce flowers.
You can view examples of tempura ya style tempura served at Tempura Kondo here.
Tempura Kondo is a very famous tempura ya in Tokyo.
You can view example of soba ya style tempura here in my blog.
I made tempura ya style prawn tempura once, using very thin batter. I popped one piece in my mouth immediately after deep-frying. It was one of the best pieces of tempura I had ever had. Later, my wife remarked, "It's not tasty." after having one piece that had already cooled down, and I had to agree. Less coating means less tasty once the tempura cools down.
One possible reason for less coating at a tempura ya is that the customer can have more pieces of less coated tempura, which means the tempura ya can make more money.
また、天ぷら屋の天ぷらとそば屋の天ぷらの違いにも触れたいと思います。
前者の天ぷらは衣が薄く、また、作ってからすぐに食べるようになっています。後者の天ぷらは衣が厚く、また事前に作っておくことが多いです。そば屋の天ぷらの中には、特に海老天の場合、揚げている最中にさらに衣をつけ、「花を咲かせる」こともあります。
「天ぷら近藤」で出されている天ぷら屋の天ぷらの例をここで見れます。
天ぷら近藤は東京にある、とても有名な天ぷら屋です。
そば屋の天ぷらの例は、私のブログのここで見れます。
一度、とても薄い衣で海老天を作ったことがあります。揚げてからすぐ、一つつまみました。今まで食べた中で一番美味しい天ぷらでした。その後、妻が、冷めたのを食べた後に、「美味しくない」と言いました。私も同意せざるを得ませんでした。衣が薄いということは、冷めると美味しくない、ということです。
天ぷら屋の天ぷらの衣が薄い、考えられる一つの理由は、衣が薄い天ぷらはお客さんがいっぱい食べれて、そうすると、天ぷら屋が儲かるからです。

I really wish the temperature control had a 170C setting. I often find that 160C is a little bit lower for most vegetables and 180C is a little higher. I guess that not all kitchen equipment designers are good cooks...
Note: The word kogomi seems to be more common than kogome.
温度調節に170Cの設定があればなあ、と思います。大半の野菜には160Cでは低すぎ、180Cでは高すぎると、よく感じます。台所の機器を作るデザイナーすべてが料理が上手なわけではないのだろうと思います...。
注： 「こごみ」のほうが「こごめ」より一般的なようです。

You can never taste this kind of tempura at a tempura ya (restaurant specializing in tempura) or any other restaurant. My mother used to make gyoniku sausage tempura when I was a child, and I liked it a lot.
天ぷら屋や他の店でもこのような天ぷらは味わえません。子供の頃、母がよく魚肉ソーセージの天ぷらを作ってくれて、私は大好きでした。

As you can see, the batter is now not lumpy at all. Don't worry. It's still good.
ご覧の通り、衣にはもうダマはありません。ご心配なく。まだ使えます。

Yomogi (mugwort), previously finely chopped, soaked in water for some time to remove aku (harshness), drained, and squeezed to remove excess water; combined with ko ebi (dried small shrimp)
よもぎ（既に細かく刻んで、水にしばらく漬けアクを取り、水を切り、余分な水分を抜くため絞ったもの。小エビと合わせました。

I added a small amount of water to adjust the texture of the batter.
衣の硬さを調節するため、水を少し足しました。

Yomogi kakiage, deep-fried at 160C for 2 min.
よもぎのかき揚げ。160Cで２分揚げました。

The initial batter was completely gone, and I made another batter, with flour (not sifted) and cold water (I mean, tap water) and without an egg. I didn't measure the water or flour this time.
最初の衣はすべて無くなったので、小麦粉（ふってない）と冷水（水道水のこと）で、卵は入れず、また衣を作りました。今度は水も小麦粉も測ってません。

This type of tempura is called iso age or isobe age. Unlike gyokuni sausage tempura, mentioned above, you may have a chance to taste it in a restaurant. Chikuwa iso (isobe) age is so popular.
この種類の天ぷらは磯揚げ、磯辺揚げと呼ばれます。先ほどの魚肉ソーセージ天ぷらとは異なり、お店で味わうチャンスがあるかも知れません。ちくわの磯（磯辺）揚げはそれ程一般的です。

I made another batter, with flour (not shifted) and cold water (tap water) and some salt.
小麦粉（ふってない）と冷水（水道水）と、塩で、また衣を作りました。

I learned this type of batter from my wife. She likes to make sweet potato tempura (imo ten) with this batter so that it can be eaten without tentsuyu.
この衣は妻から教えてもらいました。妻はこの衣で「いも天」を作って、天つゆなしで食べるのが好きです。

Sweet potato slices, being deep-fried:
さつまいもを揚げているところ：

You may think that the pot is too crowded. Don't worry.
随分入れすぎだと思うかもしれませんが、ご心配なく。

To make sweet potato tempura, the batter must be thick. The standard tempura batter, mentioned in the previous post, may be a little bit thin for sweet potato tempura. Add some more flour, if needed. And, you have to deep-fry at a low temperature (160C) for AT LEAST 4 minutes (for 1-cm rounds) to bring out the sweetness of the sweet potato.
さつまいもの天ぷらを作るには、衣が濃くなければいけません。先の投稿で述べた標準的な衣では、さつまいもの天ぷらには薄すぎるかもしれません。必要に応じて、小麦粉を足してください。そして、低温（160C）で少なくとも４分（1センチの輪切りの場合）は揚げて、さつまいもの甘さを引き出す必要があります。

Sweet potato, deep-fried at 160C for more than 5 min.
さつまいも。160Cで５分以上揚げました。

Another batch:
もう一回：

Results:
結果：

I deep-fried the three sweet potatoes in four separate batches in total. It's really time-consuming, but I don't mind because I like sweet potato tempura very much!
３本のさつまいもを、４回に分けて揚げました。本当に時間がかかります。でも気にしません。いも天は大好きなので。

I got this amount of tenkasu (agedama).
天カスがこれだけ取れました。

It's now in the freezer. I think I'll use it to make okonomiyaki.
冷蔵庫に入ってます。お好み焼きを作る時に使おうと思います。

I started to cook soba while I was making preparations for the ingredients. Just when I finished making the initial batter, it was time to drain soba. So, I had to let the batter stand for about 2 min.
蕎麦は、具材の下準備をしている時に茹で始めました。ちょうど最初の衣を作り終えた時に、蕎麦が茹で上がりました。衣は２分ほどそのままにしました。

This photo was taken after my son had much of the soba.
この写真は、息子が蕎麦をかなり食べた後に撮ったものです。

As I mentioned previously, I make it a point to strain oil while it is still hot to prevent it from degrading.
前にも言ったように、油は劣化しないよう、まだ熱いうちに漉すようにしています。

I made this simple dish with the remaining two chikuwa.
残りの２本の竹輪で簡単な料理を作りました。

Chikuwa with cheese sticks inside.
チーズが入った竹輪。
Chikuwa with cucumber sticks in it is also very popular.
きゅうりが入った竹輪も、とても一般的です。
I microwaved the prawn shell and put it in the fridge.
エビの殻は電子レンジで加熱して、冷蔵庫に入れました。

I think I'll grind it and use it in a certain dish as a "hidden flavor".
挽いて、何かの料理に「隠し味」として入れようと思います。

May 11, 2011

On May 9, I decided to make tempura for supper. I first made tentsuyu (dipping sauce for tempura) well in advance, at around two o'clock in the afternoon, by combining dashi, soy sauce, and mirin at a ratio of 5:1:1.
昨日は夕飯に天ぷらを作ることにしました。まず、前もって午後２時頃、出汁、しょう油、みりんを5:1:1の割合で混ぜて、天つゆを作りました。

Thus,
800 ml dashi (800 ml water + 1.3 tsp instant dashi)
160 ml soy sauce
160 ml mirin
I used mirin-like seasoning, not real mirin (which contains alcohol), so I just brought the mixture to a boil, turned off the heat, and let it cool.
If you use mirin, you first evaporate the alcohol by boiling for some time.

The sansai (edible wild plant) in the upper right corner is kogomi or kogome (ostrich fern fiddlehead). Luckily, I found kogomi sold at a low price, 98 yen a pack, and I just had to buy two! All my family love kogomi! The sansai in the lower right corner is yomogi (mugwort), which I picked up in my yard.
右上の山菜はこごみ（こごめ）です。運良く安く（１パック98円）売っていたので、２パック買いました。家族全員、こごみは大好きです。右下の山菜は、庭で採った、よもぎです。

Cut each sweet potato crosswise or diagonally into 1-cm rounds, soak in cold water for at least 5 min., and drain.
サツマイモは横または斜めに切って、１センチの輪切りにし、冷水に５分以上漬け、水を切ります。

I usually have tempura with soba (buckwheat noodles), and that night's supper was no exception.
私は普通、天ぷらは蕎麦（そば）と一緒に食べます。昨日の夕飯も例外ではありません。

Tempura pot with canola oil in it:
キャノーラ油を入れた天ぷら鍋：

I measured the depth of the oil, and it was about 4 cm. I think that 5 cm is usually considered a minimum depth, and I'd say that 3 cm is a bare minimum.
油の深さを測ると、約４センチでした。普通、５センチが最低の深さだと考えられていると思います。最低でも３センチは必要でしょう。

I don't like to use sesame oil to make tempura because of its distinctive flavor. Besides, sesame oil is very expensive!
私はごま油は独特な味なので、天ぷらを作るのに使うのは好きではありません。それにごま油はとても高価なので。

To be continued.
I've been rather busy these days, and I have to write about tempura making in several separate parts.
続く。
この頃忙しく、天ぷら作りに関して幾つかに分けて書きます。

May 6, 2011

We had a record snowfall last winter here in the Snow Country, and even after the snow melted, air temperature remained low. It's still rather low, but I decided to till the soil today, so that I can plant seedlings as soon as it gets warm.
ここ雪国では今年の冬は記録的な雪が降り、雪が溶けた後も、気温は低いままでした。気温はまだちょっと低いのですが、今日、畑を耕すことにしました。暖かくなったら、すぐ苗を植えられるように。

On the last day (May 5) of "Golden Week", my family went to Echigo Hillside Park, located in Nagaoka city, Niigata.
ゴールデンウイークの最終日（5/5)、家族で、新潟県長岡市にある越後丘陵公園に行きました。

The "Tulip Matsuri (festival)" is held there from April 23 through May 8 this year.
今年は４月23日～５月８日まで「チューリップまつり」が開かれています。

American Dream:
アメリカンドリーム：

At Rose Cafe,
Rose Cafeで、

we each had rose soft ice cream. I had a "mix soft cream" (red rose and raw milk), while my wife and children had an "aka bara (red rose) soft cream". 300 yen.
それぞれバラソフトを食べました（私は「ミックスソフト」、妻と子供たちは「赤バラソフトクリーム」を食べました）。300円。

There are masses of liverworts in this park.
この公園には雪割草の群生地があります。

We also found a lot of zenmai (Japanese flowering fern).
ゼンマイもたくさん見つけました。

Can you spot them all?
全部見つけられますか？

My son was overjoyed to find one amigasatake (morel).
息子はアミガサタケを一つ見つけて大喜びでした。

After we left the park, we went to a family restaurant, COCO'S. We reached there at around 5:35, but it was already crowded. We had to wait for 30 minutes before being seated.
公園を出てから、ファミリーレストランCOCO'Sに行きました。5：35頃着いたのに、もう混んでいました。席に着くまで30分待ちました。

180 g 100% Australian beef. You can select from three sauces. I selected oroshi ponzu (ponzu with grated daikon), my son demi-glass sauce, and my daughter wafu (Japanese-style) steak sauce, which was garlic flavored!! To my surprise, my children said they liked the wafu steak sauce the best.
100%オーストラリア産牛肉180 g。ソースは３種類から選べます。私はおろしポン酢、息子はデミグラスソース、娘は和風ステーキソース（ガーリック味！）を選びました。驚いたことに、二人とも和風ステーキソースが一番好きだと言ってました。

The pellet cooled down before my children could finish the steak, so they asked for another pellet for free.

ペレットは子供たちがステーキを食べ終える前に冷めてしまったので、別のをタダでもらいました。

The bill came to 3,855 yen, which was not bad by Japanese standards.

The hamburg steak was not enough for me, so I had to fill my stomach with drinks (espresso, cappuccino, blend, American, and iced coffee).
私にはハンバーグステーキだけでは足りなかったので、飲み物でお腹を満たしました（エスプレッソ、カプチーノ、ブレンド、アメリカン、アイスコーヒー）。